After the birth of the baby, he was given to the Queen's Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir Nicholas Bacon to be raised by him and his wife Lady Anne Bacon.
Of course, nobody believes this fable, although Sir Edward Coke, Bacon's lifelong enemy, called him in public "The Queen's Bastard."
Anyway, here's some more to the story:
In 1571, twelve years after Elizabeth's accession, Parliament was invoked to make it a penal offence to speak of any other successor to the Crown of England than the natural issue of the Queen.
The popular feeling with regard to Elizabeth's connection with Leicester on that occasion is well expressed by Camden. He says, "I myself have heard some oftentimes say, that the word was inserted into the Act of purpose by Leicester that it might one day obtrude upon the English some Bastard son of his for the Queen's natural issue."
It was contended that the term "natural" distinctly meant a birth out of wedlock, and that "lawful" was the only proper term to have been used. (From The Greatest of Literary Problems, James Phinney Baxter, 1915.)
Lady Anne Bacon was Sir Nicholas Bacon's second wife. She was the daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, Governor of Edward VI. The Cooke family were connected with Stratford, being large landowners. She was a perfect housewife as well as being a very clever woman. She had been the tutor to young King Edward. She had a strong character and her accomplishments were many and varied. She was familiar with classical languages. In her private letters she quotes Latin freely. She was an author and a translator.
She was a deeply religious woman. The day started with family prayers and ended with stories of Classical Adventures, Morality Tales and the Ancient Myths. She died in 1610, over eighty and had been for years under the care of Francis Bacon. Her goodness to him from childhood cannot be overestimated. Her intellect and life were reflected in him in a variety of ways. She was throughout life his staunch friend and ally. She spent her money to assist him in his literary enterprises. She maintained the Queen's Secret and acted the part of foster-mother with tact and discretion. She was the Head Lady-in-Waiting to Queen Elizabeth when Francis was born.
A letter which she writes to her son Anthony contains a remarkable
statement which has happily escaped the destroyer's hand. She asks Anthony
to explain to Francis that "It is not my meaning to treat him as a ward; Such a word is far from my Motherly feeling for him. I mean to do him good." Such a significant sentence reveals the real relationship of the
parties. He was the ward of Lady and Sir Nicholas Bacon, not their
son.
[Before Elizabeth's accession, Sir Nicholas had been Attorney for the Court of Wards and Liveries. At the time, under Feudal Law, a ward was a minor subject to wardship. The term is now recognized under the law of guardian and ward.]
The foregoing is from Francis Bacon's Personal Life Story by Alfred Dodd, Rider & Co., 1986
Jardine and Stewart, in Hostage to Fortune, the Troubled Life of Francis Bacon, Victor Gollancz, 1998 the authors have discovered another letter (p.202)
Lady Bacon writes to Anthony concerning Francis, 1593, "The scope of my so called by him circumstances, which I am sure he must understand, was not to use him as a ward --a remote phrase to my plain motherly meaning --and yet . . . My plain proposition was to do himgood . . ."
Hit here for more information:
Hit here for Alfred Dodd's discussion.
